NAU Golf Set to Compete at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational

Oct 28, 2013

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Northern Arizona University's golf team will travel to Oahu, Hawaii to compete at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational hosted by the University of Hawaii. The tournament will begin Tuesday, October 29th and conclude Thursday, October 31st and will serve as the team's final competition of the semester.

NAU Golf is coming off a 17th place finish at the Wyoming Cowgirl Invitational. The team will be looking to bounce back with some strong play in order to gain some confidence before concluding play for the semester.

"We've obviously had our struggles this fall," said head coach Brad Bedortha. "My goal is just to play better, shoot better and get better scores before going into the spring."

The Lumberjacks will compete against BYU, Colorado State, Grand Canyon, New Mexico State, Sacramento State, Utah Valley and host team Hawaii. NAU Golf has shown at times that it has the ability to compete with any team when clicking on all cylinders. If the Lumberjacks can put together some consistently good play they are a team to look out for.

"For the most part we have been trying to figure out what little things each person needs to do to be playing better," said Bedortha. "We are the defending Big Sky Conference champions and I still have very high hopes for this team."

NAU still has the pieces to remain at the top of the Big Sky Conference. The team has been led by Kaitlen Parsons, Savana Bezdicek and Brittany McKee. Parsons, a 2013 2nd Team All-Big Sky selection, was among the best in the Big Sky last season. Getting her back on track would have a great impact on the team. Bezdicek, 2013 Big Sky Freshman of the Year, played some of her best golf during this segment of the season during her freshman campaign. A strong performance would serve as a great confidence boost for the sophomore. McKee has also shown that she is more than capable of playing at a high level. Bedortha described the NAU newcomer as "an immediate impact" prior to the season beginning. If the Lumberjacks receive consistently strong contributions from these three in particular they will be a tough team to defeat.

"Savana, Kaitlen and Brittany have kind of stepped themselves up in terms of scoring," said Bedortha. "It's just a matter of getting all of us on the same page and posting a good score."

There is much to be positive about when it comes to this team's ceiling. Even with its current struggles the future seems very promising for NAU Golf.